


Angel on the Northern Line

by ReyloBrit



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:27:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21919837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReyloBrit/pseuds/ReyloBrit
Summary: Rey is alone and sad on Christmas Eve. Until she encounters a stranger, a woman named Leia, who invites her to meet her son, Ben. A man who is also alone and sad at Christmas.(This won't end sad I promise!)
Relationships: Rey & Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 20
Kudos: 145





	Angel on the Northern Line

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas, happy holidays and here's to a wonderful 2020!
> 
> And thank you to Semperfidani for all her hard work organising this collection 😍

It was the night before Christmas and the tube was surprisingly empty. On Christmas eves past, when she'd locked up the bookshop, the last to leave, no one to hurry home to; the underground had been rammed with workers finishing for the holidays, last minute shoppers and party goers on their way out. The mood had been jolly, the carriage bouncing along, the odd drunk Carol floating in the air and Londoners for once smiling and laughing together.

But on this Christmas Eve, there was no one. 

Must be it's the weather, she thought, running her hand through her rain soaked hair.

Usually she'd be reluctant to step into an empty carriage. It wasn't the sensible thing to do. But it was a seven minute wait for the next train and she wanted to get home, take off her damp boots and curl up on the sofa with her book.

There's be no TV tonight. The thought of watching some Christmas themed rom com or worse an overly sentimental Christmas special, made her want to vomit. She didn't need another reminder that she was alone this Christmas with nowhere to go.

She'd had plans of course but a nasty case of the norovirus had put paid to that. Rose had made it perfectly clear that she was not to come anywhere near her and Finn's afflicted household. Not that Rey cared about some bug. To be honest, she'd actually rather be helping to nurse two poorly adults and their sick toddler than sit on her lonesome in her flat. Hell, even mopping up sick would be better than that. But when Rose made up her mind you couldn't change it.

Her usual back up on family holidays, Poe, had just got himself a new boyfriend. They were off on some cruise, but even if they'd been around, she wasn't sure she could stomach all the public displays of affection and that feeling like they were just waiting desperately for her to leave so that they could get down to business. 

The brakes of the train screeched and Rey hung on to the pole by her seat, her body lurching to one side as the tube pulled into a station. ANGEL. Eight more stops. The Northern Line was slow at the best of times, but tonight her journey seemed to drag more than usual.

This platform stood deserted too but when the doors drew back, there was one woman waiting. Wrapped up in a long white coat, she stood out against the dark brick walls of the Victorian station; her greying hair curled into two large buns on either side of her head As she climbed inside the carriage, the bright lights caught her eyes and they twinkled.

She strode down the length of the cab, halting in front of Rey and settled into the seat opposite, balancing a tin decorated with prancing reindeer and grinning gingerbread on her knees.

The woman smiled widely at Rey, and Rey returned her best customer service face, then averted her eyes.

"You ok, lovie?" the woman asked, leaning forward in her seat. Rey jumped slightly. "You don't look so happy."

Rey's cheeks burnt as she raised her gaze back to the stranger. 

Was it that obvious? People didn't tend to read her that easily. 

"Oh, thank you. I'm fine," she answered politely, shifting in her seat. She really didn't want to talk about herself and she didn't want to be forced to make small talk for the next 20 minutes.

"Well, do you want to see something that might make you smile for real?" The woman asked.

Oh god, please don't let her flash me, Rey willed. This was why she never boarded an empty carriage. You never knew who would join you. Maybe she could switch tubes at the next stop.

The woman reached up to the neck of her coat and Rey held her breath. There was a click.

And then the lady's hair flickered with sparkly christmas lights.

A giggle broke free from Rey's throat and the lady winked at her.

"I've just been volunteering at the children's hospital. It always makes them laugh too." She leant back in her seat and adjusted the tin on her lap. "I'm Leia."

"Rey."

"So come on then Rey, why the glum face?"

"Gosh, it's not like I've got a real reason to be sad…" Leia remained quiet, waiting for her to continue. Rey sighed. "My plans fell through and I've got nowhere to go for Christmas. I realise there are people in much worse situation," she added quickly. Then she sniffed and ran the back of hand under her nose, trying her best to thwart any tears before they fell.

"Aww lovie. That sounds miserable. No wonder you feel blue." She leaned forward and patted Rey's knee. "How about a mince pie?" She wrenched the lid from her tin, revealing a tower of neat little pies, each topped with a neat little star and dusted with white icing sugar. "I made them. They're for my son - he's feeling pretty sad this Christmas too." Leia tipped the tin towards Rey and she reached inside to pick one out. They were still warm and the smell made Rey's stomach growl.

"Thank you," she said, peeling back the silver foil case. She took a large bite, icing and pastry crumbs tumbling down her chin. The pastry melted into her mouth and the kick of something in the mince hit her. "Woah. Delicious."

"My secret ingredient." Leia replaced the lid.

"Why is your son sad?" Rey asked, with a mouth full of pie.

Emotion flickered across the older woman's face and her smile faded. "He lost someone this year. It's his first Christmas without them."

"I'm sorry."

Leia nodded. "I'm on my way to see him. Cheer him up." She stood and shuffled over to the seat next to Rey's. "Why don't you come with me?"

"We just met!" Rey grinned.

Leia shrugged. "I'm a good judge of character and I will feel guilty knowing you are on your own when you could've joined us."

Rey licked the crumbs off her fingers. "I really couldn't impose," she insisted, although her heart was already warming to this lady, and despite her early thoughts, she knew that even small talk with strangers was better than feeling lonely. Again. An all too familiar feeling.

"Impose?" Leia snorted. "We'll be drinking sherry and eating mince pies and then my son, Ben, will challenge me to a game of scrabble and I will whip his ass." She paused. "Do you play scrabble?"

Rey nodded. "I studied English lit at Uni. I'm a writer.

Leia's eyebrows rose and she looked impressed. "Clever girl. Are you published?"

"Not really - a few articles and short stories. I'm writing a novel by night and working in a book store by day." She screwed up the tin case into a little silver balk. She couldn't believe she'd just revealed all that to a stranger.

"Ben's scrabble skills are atrocious. I could do with some real competition. " The wheels of the tube begun to squeal again as another platform approached. Funny, Rey had completely missed the last few stops, too engrossed in their conversation. Leia pulled herself to her feet. "This is me. You coming?" She asked, turning and walking to the doors, the fairy lights in her hair still flickering.

Rey hesitated. She stared straight ahead at her reflection in the dark window opposite. 

What the hell, she thought. And hurried to follow Leia out of the tube.

….

"Is Ben your only child?" Rey asked, as they travelled the escalator.

"Yes. Han and I had trouble conceiving- it took rather a long time," she winked at Rey, "although we had lots of fun trying."

Rey swallowed, her cheeks burning again. "Is Han your husband?"

"Was. He died about 5 years ago."

"I'm sorry."

"Ben and Han, they rubbed each other up the wrong way. They didn't see a lot of each o

ther. Although, it's a shame. I think they'd get on much better these days." She smiled at Rey. "Ben used to be a bit of a scoundrel - just like his father had been before he met me. But Ben's mellowed a lot." Her eyes swam over Rey's face. "He just needs to find a nice girl now."

Rey's heart dropped. Oh no, was this some kind of attempt at matchmaking? She'd walked straight into this one. Maybe she should make her excuses and leave now.

As if reading her thoughts, Leia threw back her head and laughed, a deep throated rumble. "Oh Rey," she hiccuped, wiping away tears, "my son is an acquired taste. I would not inflict that on you."

Rey couldn't help smiling in return, the woman's good mood was infectious.

"How will he feel about you bringing a stranger home?"

Leia stepped off the escalator, and flew through the barriers, waiting for Rey at the other side of the gate.

"It's his home we're going to, not mine, but...he can be a little uptight. Best we don't mention we just met."

"You're not exactly endearing him to me, Leia," Rey muttered. 

Leia halted and caught Rey's arm. "His bark is worse than his bite. I may be his mother, so you may think I'm deluded, but I honestly think he is the sweetest man deep down." Her eyes sparkled again. "He has his father's heart."

Rey clasped Leia's arm in return. "If he's anything like his mother-"

"Look at you flattering an old woman."

Outside, the rain still hurtled from the night's sky and only the stringed lights overhead were lit, reflected in the deepening puddles. The shops were dark and locked up and only an odd car rumbled past, spraying water up into the air.

They walked together, down the high street and into the more suburban roads, turning left then right, then left again. They chatted about literature and Rey's book and Leia told her the story of how she'd met her husband.

"So why is a lovely girl like you on your own at Christmas?" Leia asked gently.

"I got taken into care when I was little. I have no family. Well blood family anyway. My friends Finn and Rose are like family, you know." She pulled her hood a little tighter over her head, having refused to share Leia's large rainbow umbrella. "I'm Godmother to their daughter Hannah," she added with a beam.

Leia stopped again. "We're here." Then her gaze fell to her hands. "Oh fiddle sticks!" She gasped. "I was meant to pick up the sherry from the off licence."

"I can run back and get it for you."

"No, no," Leia said, thrusting the tin of mince pies into Rey's arms. "You"ll only get lost. You go on up. Second floor - flat B, Ben Solo."

Rey's eyes widened in horror and she shook her head. "Oh no! I'll wait for you. I don't want to go up alone."

"This weather is miserable. Up you go." And Leia gave her a little shove. Rey stumbled and by the time she'd regained her balance and twisted back around to protest once more, Leia had disappeared into the darkness.

She peered into the misty night for a few minutes trying to spy Leia, and then with a large huff, she spun back to the entrance, and, so as not to give herself the chance to back out, pressed button 2B.

To her surprise, a buzzer sounded and the lock clicked back without the need to speak to a soul. Balancing the tin in one arm, she pulled back the heavy door and ducked inside. An overhead light flicked on and she made her way to the stairways. Rey climbed the steps slowly, hoping that Leia might catch up with her and negate the need to meet her son alone. But more quickly than she wished, she reached the second floor and found the door to flat 2B.

The door was painted a dark red with a black knocker the shape of a bat nestled in its centre and a spy hole positioned just above. Pulling back her hood, and blotting the water from her face, she took a deep breath in and rang the bell positioned on the door frame.

An electronic clang rang from within, and then the sound of footsteps slapping against hard floor. They stopped the other side of the door and she could almost feel the eyes of the man examine her through the spy hole. Then there was the snap of several bolts and the door drew back slowly.

"Yes?" Asked a deep voice that seemed to be radiating from the wide chest straight in front of her. She lifted her head. Then lifted it a bit more until eventually she found the owner's face.

His hair and eyes were much darker than his mother's, although the paleness of his skin and the structure of his face were similar, and he had the same full mouth. But their builds couldn't have been more different. Where his mother was a small, soft woman with a round middle, her son towered above Rey and had a wide solid chest, broad shoulders and thick arms.

These arms he crossed as he peered down at her with a sceptical look. 

"Yes?" He boomed again, his deep voice making her jump with a start. She supposed a man who looked like that ought to have such a voice.

"Hi, Ben?" He frowned at her slightly but nodded. "I'm Rey." She shifted the tin under one arm and held out her hand.

He scowled at it, his own remaining crossed across his chest. "Do I know you?"

"Oh," she giggled nervously, shifting on her feet. God, he wasn't making this easy for her. "Your Mum sent me up ahead. She invited me to join you both this evening. She just went to get the sh-" she trailed off at the look of thunder on his face, his eyebrows locked in a deep frown, his eyes almost black.

"You've got the wrong place!" He snarled, reaching out to grip the door.

His rudeness bristled her and she stepped her foot angrily into the doorway, preventing him from closing it.

"Ok, I've obviously got the wrong Ben. Maybe you could help me find the right one." He glared at her but she continued anyway. "I'm looking for Ben Solo."

"Fuck off!" He snapped, taking a tiny but menacing step towards her.

She flinched but held her ground. "Fuck off yourself, you wanker. It's Christmas. Would it kill you to help me - he lives in this building."

"I am Ben Solo," he hissed through clenched teeth. "And I don't know what you're trying to pull, but I'm not in the mood."

She stared at him, her mouth falling open. "I'm not trying to pull anything - your mum, Leia, sent me on ahead."

He leaned towards her so his face was just inches from hers. "My mother, Leia, is dead!"

She stepped back, shaking her head. "Is this some kind of sick joke?" She swung her head from side to side looking for she didn't know what. "Is this what you and Leia, or whoever she is, do for kicks?" Despite her best efforts she felt a sob bubbling up from her throat. "Pick up lonely women and then…"she sniffled "and then…." She shoved the tin at him and he instinctively took it from her. His brow still creased with anger but confusion also flickered across his eyes.

Rey spun around, swiping at the tears that now tumbled freely down her cheeks and dashed towards the stairwell.

How could people be so cruel? Leia had seemed so nice, so kind.It was rare for her to open up like that to people she had known for years, let alone a stranger. And look what it had gotten her: the usual familiar sting of rejection like a slap around the face!

She stumbled down the stairs, her vision blurring with the tears swimming in her eyes. She didn't even feel like calling Rose and sobbing at her; she couldn't face the lecture about going off with someone she didn't know. It was alright for Rose. She had Finn and Hannah and an older sister whom she adored. Who did Rey have? No one. Just herself.

"Hey! Wait up!" That same deep voice boomed from above her and Rey nearly tumbled down the stairs. She heard his fast footsteps on the steps behind her and she quickened her own pace. "Stop."

As speedy as she was, the man with his long legs quickly caught up with her and grabbed at her arm, attempting to halt her. She shrugged him off violently and spun to glare at him.

Was he going to apologise? She wasn't in a forgiving mood.

But his face did not look bashful at all. That same aggression burnt in his pupils.

"Where did you get that tin?"

She grimaced. "You had your little joke-"

"It's hers. I recognise it." He ran his hand through his dark locks. "It has the same scratchings I made on it when I was a kid." He seemed to be talking to himself now and she took a step away from him, hoping he wouldn't notice. "But all her stuff is still in storage...I haven't sorted through it yet." His eyes rose from the floor to meet hers. This time they were wide with confusion and a hint of fear. "How? How did you get it?"

She shook her head at him and raised her finger to jab at his face. "I'm not playing this game. A woman, Leia she said her name was, gave it to me. She said she was your mum and that she was bringing you mince pies. Shit, I even ate one on the tube."

"Mince pies?" He turned slowly and began to plod up the stairs. "My mother is dead. Her name was Leia Organa - you may have heard of her," he said quietly over his shoulder.

She stared at his retreating figure in disbelief for a few seconds and then hurried down the stairs.

Outside the torrential rain had ceased but the night was still dark and misty. She paused with her hand on the door handle about to step outside, when she saw it, the fairy lights in the window of the house opposite.

Blink blink shine blink blink shine

Just like the lights in Leia's hair.

That name, Leia Organa, was familiar. Rey pulled her phone out of her coat pocket and punched the name into Google.

Several long obituaries popped up first. Leia Organa was a well loved politician who'd died of breast cancer in the summer. Rey had never followed politics but she remembered the story. Still, that didn't mean this wasn't some kind of elaborate con job. 

She examined the accompanying photos. There was one of Leia volunteering at the hospital, her hair done up in those same two buns. Rey clicked on the photo and zoomed in, wanting a better view of the woman's face. It was the same person. No doubt about it.

….

The doorbell rang again and Ben scrambled his feet, striding quickly to the door and snapping the locks.

The blood thumped in his chest as he flung back the door, hoping with all his heart that it was that girl again. 

Fuck, he'd been a grumpy git and he didn't deserve a second chance. But surely, surely….

"The mince pies!" He gasped, his eyes wide as he stared down at her. His stomach swooping with relief and excitement.

"Wh-what?" She crinkled her eyes in confusion. They were bright eyes - quick and lively and the colour of Autumn meadows.

"They were her mince pies. I must sound crazy." He ran his hand through his hair and shook his head, staring off into the distance. "But she had this secret recipe and there's no way you could've known that." He looked back up, searching her face for some kind of explanation.

"Some things just don't make sense." She whispered, holding his gaze. "I gave up trying to make sense of this world long ago." She reached up and twirled a damp strand of hair back behind her ear, and suddenly he noticed how thoroughly wet she was.

"You're soaked," he mumbled "I'll make you a hot drink, or maybe I should get you a towel," He turned and walked into the flat, her timid footsteps followed behind him and the door swung shut with a bang. He halted and the girl bumped straight into him. "Sorry." He span back around, hands raised and she grinned at him; wide and dazzling. It caught him off guard so that for a moment he couldn't remember what he had been doing. They stared at one another and the edges of his mouth tugged upwards in response to her smile.

"My feet are frozen. Wet boots," she explained and they both peered down at her soggy shoes. "Would you mind if I took them off?"

"Yes."

Her eyebrows shot up her forehead.

"I mean, no, I wouldn't mind." He shuffled awkwardly. "Yes please, take them off. I'll put them on the radiator to dry."

"Thanks." She balanced on one leg, and kicked off her boot, then swapped to remove the other. Her socks were covered in dancing christmas elves. 

"Those wet too?"

"Uh huh."

"Give them here then."

She peeled off one sock and then the other. "I'm not sure this is a good idea," she hesitated, her hand outstretched, still gripping her socks, his hand also holding them. Their fingers were touching and he swore he could feel electricity pass between them.

He nodded slowly, and, carefully, as if trying not to startle a small animal, took the clothing from her. "Did she have a message for me, my Mum?"

The woman considered for a moment. "No." She peered up at him through her eyelashes and he had a sudden desire to kiss her. He hadn't felt an urge like that for a very long time. "Was your Mum always trying to set you up?"

"You think that's what this is?" He asked seriously. She shrugged. "Yes, she was always trying to set me up with some girl or another. But her success rate was very poor."

"Oh."

"In fact there wasn't a success rate at all. But she never gave up. She was a big sucker for love."

"Are you?"

"Am I what?"

"A sucker for love?"

He froze. Shit, that was a question. Was he? Yes, he supposed he was. But as he'd gotten older, and relationship after relationship had failed, he'd found himself increasingly lonely; his friends and work colleagues all married with kids. Recently he'd begun to worry it might never happen for him. And yet he'd never quite been able to give up on the idea that one day he'd find the kind of love his parents had had

"I want to believe in love. But here I am alone again on Christmas Eve."

"You're not alone." There was a sadness in her eyes now. A familiar sadness he knew well.

"Neither are you."

Her face lit up once more at his words. She held out her hand. "Rey."

This time he took it and shook firmly, noting her strong grip. "Ben."

"So, Ben - fancy a game of scrabble?"


End file.
